April 27th
by polkadottruffles
Summary: Maybe it's the universe's way of apologizing, He thinks wryly, Y'know, like "Sorry you died, go ahead and have the night off"


A.N Sooooo this is super self-indulgent and I haven't written a fic in a while. That's it.

It's a rare quiet night in Gotham, all the major rouges are either laying low or tucked away in Arkham. The streets aren't crowded with thugs and dealers for once, and Jason hasn't witnessed so much as a purse being stolen. The weather is nicer than normal too- The clouds wispy and sparsely spaced, not a single drop of rain in sight. Jason can even see a few stars peeking out from under all the light pollution.

Maybe it's the universe's way of apologizing, He thinks wryly, Y'know, like "Sorry you died, go ahead and have the night off"

It should be nice, but really, Jason doesn't know what to do with himself. There's no reason for him to be out tonight at all, but he doesn't exactly have many other places to be. The manor is out of the question. Even though things have been better (albeit…cautious) between Bruce and him, Bruce has been moody and closed off the whole _month_ leading up to today. Jason just doesn't want to deal with him now that today is actually here.

He probably should just go back to his safe-house but Roy and Kori are off doing a job somewhere in Kentucky, and he really doesn't feel like being alone tonight. _'Because sitting by yourself on a_ rooftop _is somehow less lonely than sitting in your_ house _by yourself….?'_ He sighs to himself, because somehow being aware of your own stupidity and patheticalness makes you seem even more stupid and pathetic.

His plans for the rest of the night (feeling sorry for himself on this rooftop and hoping for someone to try and rob a convenience store or something so he has an excuse to beat the shit out of them) are interrupted by soft footsteps from behind. Jason is on his feet with his gun aimed at the intruder before he even registers who it is.

"You sure are jumpy tonight Hood" says Dick with a smirk. Jason is torn between being annoyed because Jesus fuck _of course_ he's jumpy tonight, and being grateful because Dick's not saying something like 'Wow sorry you have to be alive and dealing with the anniversary of your own agonizing death by explosion right now"

He settles on annoyed, because even if he's not mentioning it now, Dick is probably going to bring up his death sometime tonight. "What're you doing here dickface?" Dick grins at him "Patrol? What else?" Which is…..quite possibly the flimsiest lie Jason has ever heard, considering that not only is crime dead tonight, but Nightwing tends to stay in Bludhaven, unless something big is happening. But it's late, and Jason is too tired to really want to argue about it.

"Okay, sure." Says Jason, "If you can manage to drag yourself away from all this terribly important crime fighting for a while, we could go get dinner." Jason thinks Dick looks surprised, but it's kinda hard to tell without seeing his eyes. "It's 2 AM" Dick helpfully points out. "Yeah, well, I'm hungry and it's too early to call it breakfast so." Dick shrugs unconcernedly "Honestly I was going to ask the same thing, I just expected it would take a lot of convincing. Let's go."

They wander until they find a small 24-hour burger joint that Jason remembers coming to once or twice with Bruce after patrol. It's surprisingly full for how late is and they wait in line to order in awkward silence. Jason thinks about making a pun about his death to break it, but for once he doesn't feel like it. That and he figures it would be pretty insensitive, tonight.

"I'm glad you're alive" Dick says suddenly. Jason blinks in confusion and says "What." Because do they _really_ need to have this conversation in line to get burgers, surrounded by people. "Well" Dick continues "It's not like anyone really makes a habit of telling you, but I really want you to know that I'm glad that your alive. I mean- you can't imagine how grateful I am that you got a second chance even if y- "Jason rolls his eyes "Even if I fucked it up?" "I was going to say 'even if you made some mistakes' but if _that's_ how you want to think about it, sure." Dick finishes dryly.

"Do you think we could maybe not talk about me dying and ruining everyone's lives by coming back for like. Ten minutes please?" Dick looks like he wants to respond, but thankfully keeps his mouth shut. The rest of the wait is spent in tense quiet, and neither of them try to remedy it.

They eat on a rooftop. Not the same one Jason had been loitering on earlier- you can't see the stars from this one. It's a little disappointing, but Jason is quickly distracted by the food. And Dick. "Seriously- " Dick starts, a determined look on his face, before Jason cuts him off " _Seriously_ " he says pointedly "I don't wanna hear it." "Well maybe you should" insists Dick. Jason rolls his eyes (even if it most likely will go unnoticed) because can't a guy eat his fucking burger without his brother harassing him?

"What happened to like. Respecting the dead and shit, dickhead?" asks Jason. Dick glares at him "That's not-That's not funny." Jason rolls his eyes again. "Uh yeah. It kinda is." Dick ignores him. "Listen I came here to talk to you, so are you going to let me or not." Jason shrugs, "Well clearly you're not gonna leave me alone until you say whatever it is you need to say so." Dick gives him a wry half smile and says, "I just want you to know, that even though I haven't exactly been the greatest brother to you, I care about you, no matter what shitty choices you've made in the past. And when you died…

I mean- I know we weren't close but you were a _kid_ and you were my brother. And then you came back and no one even noticed- I'm just. Sorry. Because so many people let you down.

Jason squints at him. That wasn't _not_ what he was expecting, because-well. Because he honestly wasn't sure what to expect. But it wasn't _horrible_ so he'll take it. "Yeah okay. Apology accepted, even if none of that shit was your fault."

"It wasn't yours either." Dick says, so serious it hurts. Jason laughs half-heartedly and looks up to the starless sky, "That's not exactly what B tells all you birds is it?" Dick is quiet for a few moments, and then- "Well you know how B is." "A stubborn asshole?" asks Jason, and Dick flashes a grin at him. "Yeah. A stubborn asshole"

They finish their food in companionable silence, and for the first time on this date, Jason feels _okay_.


End file.
